It's Christmas Day working at New Street Station

ENGINEERS working on the multi-million pound regeneration of New Street Station will be forsaking their Christmas lunch to use a huge crane to create a brand new section of footbridge aimed at boosting access.

ENGINEERS working on the multi-million pound regeneration of New Street Station will be forsaking their Christmas lunch to use a huge crane to create a brand new section of footbridge aimed at boosting access.

Construction workers will start work on extending the footbridge in Navigation Street at midnight on Christmas Eve and will work around the clock until late on Boxing Day to complete the work at the west end of the station. It will allow access to platforms 10, 11 and, for the first time, platform 12. It will also create a new entrance to the station on Hill Street.

The mammoth task will see engineers using a 700-tonne crane erected on Hill Street to remove the current footbridge which serves platforms 10 and 11 and then lift the new bigger bridge into place.

Andrew Skidmore, spokesman for the £600 million project, said engineers had purposely planned to carry out the work over the festive period to coincide with Network Rail’s planned two-day shut-down of the railway system across the country, which will see no trains running in or out of New Street from late Christmas Eve to early on December 27.

“This new section of bridge will give passengers more choice and improve access from the station to the south side of the city but we can’t install it safely with passengers and trains travelling through the station,” he said.

“As Birmingham relies on New Street station to keep it moving, we’re taking advantage of the shut-down to complete this work.”

He said the extended Navigation Street footbridge will open fully for passengers in autumn 2012.

The news comes after Solihull MP Lorely Burt (Lib Dem) paid a visit to the site to see how the project, due to be completed by 2015, is developing.

“The logistics involved in rebuilding it are mind-boggling,” she said.

She said the scheme, being jointly funded by Birmingham City Council, Network Rail, Advantage West Midlands and Centro, could boost the local economy.